Upcoming Hockey Figures

Here’s a quick rundown of NHL SportsPicks Series 23 and 24 by McFarlane Toys.

NHL Series 23 – January 2010
Marc-Ander Fleury (Pittsburgh Penguins)
Alexander Ovechkin 4 (Washington Capitals)
Gordie Howe (Hartford Whalers)
Teemu Selanne 2 (Anaheim Ducks)
Bobby Orr 3 (Boston Bruins)
Luke Schenn (Toronto Maple Leafs)

NHL Series 24 – April 2010
Robyn Regehr (Calgary Flames)
Michael Cammalleri (Montreal Canadiens)
Jonathan Toews (Chicago Blackhawks)
Tim Thomas (Boston Bruins)
John Tavares (New York Islanders)
Jonas Gustavsson (Toronto Maple Leafs)

NHL Series 23 seems to be a pretty typical assortment. I’m already tired of Ovechkin figures and Maple Leafs figures. A figure of Gordie Howe with the Hartford Whalers should be interesting, though a figure of him as a Houston Aeros would really rock.

Now, NHL Series 24 has my attention. McFarlane Toys is making figures of popular rookies John Tavares and Jonas Gustavsson while they are still rookies. Mike Cammaleri is currently second in scoring for Montreal, and Tim Thomas has more than established himself as a top-tier player.

But what really excites me is that there will be a figure of Blackahwks team captain Jonathan Toews. While there have been recent figures of retired ‘Hawks (Stan Mikita, Bobby Hull and Bobby Orr), this is the first figure of a current ‘Hawk since Nikolai Khabibulin was released in NHL Series Series 12 (May 2006).

Which leads me to ask, why no Blackhawks figures for so long? They have been among the hottest teams in hockey in the past two years. Patrick Kane won the Calder Trophy in 2008, but still has yet to be immortalized as a figure. Current stars Marian Hossa and Christobal Huet both appeared as SportsPicks in 2007; why not repaint them as Chicago players?

Either way, I’ll be looking to get a few of these. I’ve really slowed down on the SportsPicks as of late. I really need to get my hands on this one.

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Author: Sal Barry

Sal Barry is the editor and webmaster of Puck Junk. He is a freelance hockey writer, college professor and terrible hockey player. Follow him on Twitter @puckjunk

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